Miniature Base Felting Glue Jig

I wanted to felt the bottom of some of my miniature bases to make them have a satisfying feel. Using super glue would harden the felt so spray adhesive is best, but it's hard to keep the glue from seeping along the side of the base. Having a jig protects the base, makes it easier to align the felt on the bottom, and also keeps glue from going edge-to-edge on the bottom which can give the bases a tacky feeling. I really enjoyed making the jig and the bases, so I really hope that you enjoy it to!

Jig Features

• JigBottom files:

  • Hold your miniature base in place, and are the right size to drop a felt circle on for alignment.

  • Allow you to hold the jig instead of of the glue-covered base bottom when applying felt circles.

• JigTopper files:

  • Align to the JigBottom files.

  • Cover a very small portion of the bottom of the bases so that glue doesn't go edge-to-edge and give you a tacky feeling when holding your minis.

  • Protect the top of the JigBottoms so that you don't have to put your fingers in glue while applying felt.

• JigTray files:

  • Protects the tops of your bases (as they're sitting upside down) from getting glue overspray on them.

  • Comes off so that you can poke the bases back out of the jig if gravity won't get them out for you.

  • Aligns with the rest of the pieces to protect the JigBottom.

  • Note: The tray isn't strictly required for for the process. I just found that the jigs would shift after gluing, and then the tops of the bases (upside down), would get glue on them.

• MiniBase25mm file:

  • Includes a magnet hole for making your bases magnetic.

  • Is 25mm which is the standard grid size for most tabletop/wargaming mats. Bottom diameter 25mm, top diameter 23mm.

  • Isn't hollow, so it should be weightier and help keep the minis from tipping over.

  • Has a plain top for gluing nicer base toppers to.

• Remixable

  • I've included the OpenSCAD script for creating the jigs/bases. You can play around with changing the base dimensions, number of jigs in one part, or adjust any of the details.

Materials for felting miniature bases

• Bases! I've included an STL for a simple 25mm miniature base.

  • The base includes a magnet hole. The existing hole has a 3mm diameter and 1mm depth.

  • Plain base ready for base toppers printed in resin.

• Felt. Very thin felt.

  • Try and find 0.5mm felt sheets. Amazon Link: 6 Yard x 11.6 Inch 0.5mm

  • I used leather circle cutters to cut the exact width of the base bottom.

• Glue. It's important to use the right types of glue for felt.

  • Super/crazy/cyanoacrylate glues will harden the felt fibres which you don't want. Avoid these.

  • The cheapest and easiest to find option is PVA/School/White glue; This glue is safe and simple. The durability might not be super high, and it takes a bunch of time to brush this in an even layer.

  • Spray adhesive is the best option for attaching felt. It's not super important which ones, but I used 3M Super 77 which you can buy in the hardware store or online. It's fast and easy, gives you time to work, creates a thin glue layer, and doesn't harden the felt. Make sure to follow the safety instructions from the manufacturer when applying spray adhesives. A respirator, safety glasses/goggles, nitrile gloves, and ventilation are important.

  • There's likely other glues that would work well with this. You could try hot glue, but you'll want to make sure not to build it up too much as it'll affect how the bottom of the bases feel.

• A safe surface to glue on.

  • I personally use a silicone sheet to glue on so that I don't get glue everywhere.

I don't have any affiliation with Amazon, the seller, or the products being sold so fill your boots and purchase (or don't) whatever is right for you!

Process for felting the bases

1. Print and prime your miniature bases.

   1. Print with 100% infill to make it weightier.

   2. Prime and paint the bases before felting. Felt looks strange if you get paint on it.

      • This will make the felt glue a little weaker (relying on the adhesive strength of primers), but its better than having to refelt. :)

2. Cut the felt fabric into circles.

   1. Match a cutting circle to the bottom of your base.

   2. Don't use a mallet on the leather cutters to cut the thin felt. It won't work very well.

   3. Wear padded work gloves

   4. Place the felt sheet on a cutting mat

   5. Hold the cutter in your palm (sharp edge pointed away from your hand)

   6. Press the cutter down and spin it on the fabric to cut

   7. Repeat until you have as many felt bottoms as you want

3. Print the single jig

   1. Print the JigBottom, JigTopper, and Tray files (the single ones) and dry fit them.

      1. The parts should fit nicely together without friction.

4. Dry fit your base into the jig

   1. You bases should slide nicely (upside down) into the JigBottom. (phrasing...)

   2. There should be a couple millimeters of room above the base in the little "tube"

   3. The JigTopper should just touch the bottom of your base from the top to help with overspray

   4. If it doesn't fit, you may have to adjust the jig files using OpenSCAD, Fusion360, or your slicer to fit your base. More likely if you aren't printing the base provided.

   5. If you want to, you can skip ahead and try gluing felt to a base as a test!

5. Once it fits together and fits the base(s), print a grid of jigs from the other files so that you can work on the process in batches.

6. Place the JigBottom in the JigTray.

7. Put your bases (upside down so the bottom is pointing upwards) into the JigBottom.

8. Put the JigTopper on top of the JigBottom with the bases inserted.

9. Lay the assembled jig with bases onto something you don't mind getting glue on. I used a silicone mat.

10. Apply the glue to the tops of the bases through the holes in the jig.

    1. If you're using spray adhesive

       1. Wear a respirator rated for your product. I used a combination filter on mine but at a minimum you should use a gas/vapor catridge as the the propellant is pretty noxious.

       2. Spray in a well-ventilated space.

       3. Wear safety glasses (okay) or goggles (better) to protect your eyes from glue. It's easy enough to have the nozzle pointed toward you or get sprayback if you put your face too close.

       4. Wear nitrile gloves. This stuff is sticky and you don't want to glue your fingers.

       5. Spray on a silicone surface or something you don't mind being sticky like cardboard or shop paper.

       6. If you're using spray adhesive, more is less so spray fairly quickly over the entire jig. It's pretty much spray and pray - which is to say it's easy. :)

       7. Wait 20-30 seconds to allow the glue some time to thicken.

       8. You can clean off the jig parts and silicone with isopropyl alcohol, a paper towel, and some elbow grease.

    2. If you're using PVA/School/White glue.

       1. Apply a thin layer of glue to the bottom of the base while it's in the jig.

       2. Use a finger or brush to make the glue even and thin

11. Take the JigTopper off the jig.

12. Carefully apply the felt circles to the glued areas of the bases while they're still in the jig. The "tubes" should help you align the circles to the base bottoms.

13. Apply some light pressure onto the felt so that it connects with the glue and makes a bond.

14. At this point you can either leave the base in the JigBottom or take them out

15. To take the bases out of the jig, just flip the entire thing upside down.

    1. If that doesn't work you can take the JigBottom out of the JigTray and poke the bases out of the jig.

16. Let the glue dry at least overnight, but 24 hours for the best results.

17. Inspect your felted bases. If there's overhang you can take a sharp hobby knife and cut around to make them prettier.

18. If your felt is lighter on the top like mine, the edge may look "cut". If this happens, take a sharpie or something of the same color and apply it carefully around the edge.

19. Enjoy your rad mini base!

OpenSCAD Source File

Variables:

• outputType: Four options.

  • "jigBottom" is what the base would sit in, upside down, for gluing.

  • "jigTop" is the JigTopper that allows for just the right amount of gluing

  • "tray" protects the tops of your bases from any glue that might get oversprayed.

  • "base": a base with or without a magnet hole.

• baseBottomDiameter - The diameter in millimeters for the bottom of the mini base

• baseTopDiameter - The diameter in millimeters for the top of the mini base

• baseHeight - The height of the base in millimeters

• useMagnet - Sets whether the script creates a magnet hole or not

• magnetDiameter - Size of the magnet hole in mm

• magnetHeight - Height of the magnet hole in mm

• multipleJigs - If false, will only create a single jig.

• numberJigsX (and Y) - When creating a grid of base jigs, how many side by side

Static Values:

I wouldn't recommend changing these unless you're going for a pretty different result but it's not like I'm going to stop you!

• tolerance - .254 mm for a "normal" fit that isn't tight. I don't want to mark the base as it's usually already painted.

• jigWidth - I made these 6mm larger than the widest part of the mini base so I had more room to grab.

• jigHeight - Affects the "tubes" that protrude from the bottom jig. Gave me enough room to align the felt.

• trayHeight - This really don't need to be very tall. Just enough to fit to the JigBottom.